Dusk had already fallen, and Doctor Yurasov brought me to the Uninitiated’s training grounds and dormitories, which were located a few minutes outside of the village. We passed through a small wood until we reached a clearing. I had expected something like a youth hostel, but instead there were several dozen small wooden huts strewn throughout the clearing.
“This is where I will leave you, Miss Flynn.”
He pointed out a hut right at the edge of the little settlement and bade me goodnight.
I approached it, though hesitated briefly before knocking. I tapped the door twice. Nothing happened. Perhaps they hadn’t heard me. I tapped again, and then suddenly a male voice spoke.
“They’re not back yet. Are you looking for someone?”
I swung around. He must have been my age. He was extremely fit physically, though slightly shorter in stature than I was. His blond hair accentuated his handsome face. He was wearing white pants and a jacket made of thick cotton. It reminded me of the uniforms they wore for Judo, only without the belts.
“Oh, I’ve just arrived,” I said.
“Welcome, then, I guess. My name’s Steve,” he said.
“I’m Beccs.”
He stood there, slightly awkward, not knowing what to do next, so I extended my hand. He shook it gratefully.
“It shouldn’t be locked,” he said, desperate to prevent any silence. I opened the door carefully.
“Thanks,” I said.
We entered the little hut, which turned out to be a single room. To say it was barebone would have been an understatement. There were two bunk beds, one above the other, on the left. On the right, a wardrobe, a table and two chairs.
“Are you the girl everyone’s been talking about? The one who almost got killed by the Slayers?”
“That’s me,” I said.
“And is it true that you’re…”
He hesitated, looking rather sheepish.
“… that you have the Scarlet Curse?” he asked finally.
“That’s what they told me, yeah.”
“Woah. I guess we shouldn’t get in your way then, huh?” he said, giving off a nervous laugh.
“How so?” I said.
“I mean, you’re supposed to have all sorts of special powers. Did you use them to fight off the Slayers?”
“No, I… haven’t noticed anything.”
“Strange. Well, maybe with a bit of training. I hear it’s really rare, so nobody really knows how long it takes for it to show.”
“Yeah, I suppose. So is there a shower or something around here I could use?” I asked him.
“There’re communal bathrooms in the largest hut. There should also be some spare robes for you there. I’ll point you to them.”
“Thanks,” I said as we stepped back outside. “Have you been here long?”
“Oh, about two weeks I think,” Steve said. “Though the days are all pretty similar, you kind of lose track of time. The bathrooms are right over there.”
He laughed again.
“Well, I’ll leave you to it, then. I think the girls should be back soon. See you around.”
“I’ll see you, Steve,” I said.
***
“You mean she has the Curse?”
“Yeah, that’s what I heard from one of the gargoyles.”
“You heard it from a gargoyle? They don’t even speak to the Uninitiated, Lynn!”
“No, no, they do, but you have to do it the right way. Jayden’s been teaching me how to do it.”
“Oooh, you’ve been alone with Jayden?”
“He’s only a friend! Anyway, he told me how to do it. There are signs. They tell you things, like non-verbally.”
“Yeah, Lynn, boys tell you stuff non-verbally, I get it.”
“I’m talking about the gargoyles!”
“Shh, you’ll wake her up…”
“We’ll see you at training, Lynn.”
“Okay, see you later.”
There was the sound of a door opening and closing. The hushed voices from below had woken me up, and it took me a while to remember where I was. I opened my eyes, only immediately to close them again, blinded by the light shining in from the window. I sat up, looking down at the pretty girl lying on the bunk bed below me.
She had very dark hair and olive skin, like an Italian. She was wearing round glasses and the same white robes Steve had been wearing the night before.
“Hi,” I said.
“Hi,” she said, sounding rather nervous. “I’m Lynn.”
“I’m Rebecca, but people usually just call me Beccs,” I said.
“Is it true that you have the Curse?” she blurted out, unable to contain her curiosity.
“Yep,” I said, sounding more nonchalant than I actually felt. “But I didn’t know ‘til yesterday myself.”
“Must be amazing! I wish I had it. I mean, I know it has bad sides as well, of course. Didn’t they attack you?”
I told her all about the attack, how they had entered the house in disguise, how my grandfather and I had fought them off as best we could. It was still very painful to talk about it, but Lynn was an excellent listener, and her sympathetic interest eased the pain a little bit.
“I’m so sorry to hear about your grandfather,” she said. “You must miss him a lot.”
“Yeah. He was great.”
“D’you think they’re still after you now?”
“That’s what Doctor Yurasov told me. They were after me. I don’t think they’ll be stopping anytime soon.”
“You should be safe. The gargoyles don’t miss a thing. A couple of the guys tried to sneak into the castle – just to have a look – but they got discovered almost instantly.”
“So are you a born vampire then?” I asked her.
“Yeah, from an Italian-American family. But they wanted me to be educated in Europe, so they sent me here. Bit strange, this place, isn’t it? But the people are very nice. Except Mr. Vox, of course.”
“Who’s he?” I asked.
“Oh, you’ll get to know him later. He’s in charge of training us up for the Trial. I’m really scared of it´, the Trial I mean. I got here late because my mother wanted me to attend my cousin’s wedding before I came here. Tough catching up with the others, some have been here for weeks.”
“I wonder what it’s going to be, though,” I said. “Did they tell you at all?”
“No, it’s a well-kept secret. Nobody knows. And if they knew they wouldn’t tell us anyway. Not Vox, anyway. But it’s supposed to test our physical abilities as well as our character.”
***
We talked for a while longer, and I felt a lot more relaxed now. I had stayed for survival, but perhaps this wasn’t going to be bad place at all. We joined the others outside for breakfast, at the far end of the clearing, close to the fire pit. It was local cuisine for the most part, sweet walnut bread and tripe soup. Two other girls I hadn’t met yet joined our table. One was called Lise, a very friendly girl from the Bavarian countryside, and Jelena from Greece.
“We’ll have to be at training in 10 minutes,” Anastasia said, putting her knife down and looking at her watch.
We finished our breakfast and got up. The training grounds were only a few minutes away. Other people had already arrived, and there was much greeting, hugging and waving as people recognised each other. All seemed to be in a very good mood.
“This is where we always meet,” Anastasia said to me.
“Right,” I said.
“I’m thirsty,” Lynn said, massaging her throat.
“Soon enough, Lynn,” Anastasia said.
We waited for some minutes. I noticed that most would-be vampires were my age, though some were older.
A rotund man, wearing a white doctor’s coat, emerged from the woods. As he drew nearer, the crowd began hooting and crying out with enthusiasm. It seemed he was a popular figure. Behind him, a tall man with round spectacles, also dressed in white, followed reluctantly. He looked tired and gaunt.
“Who is that?” I asked Lynn, who stood next to me.
“That’s Doctor Wiley in front, and that’s his assistant, Mr. Vox.”
Doctor Wiley had a rotund and boyish face, which contrasted violently with his shock of pure white hair. He was grinning, returning some of the greetings as if he were some sort of rockstar.
“’Fraid it’s out today, everyone, no more juice,” he said when he finally entered the circle. He held out his arms to show that he had nothing on him, though he was smirking and winking as he spoke.
People around me started laughing, others were mock-complaining. Evidently, this belonged to some sort of routine of his.
“Alright, alright. If you insist,” he said, holding up his hands to stop the chatter, “d’you want some more?”
The crowd cried out in affirmation.
He beamed around and then leant back, head facing up at the sky, emitting a terrible cry, like some wounded animal. Within seconds, the call was returned. The hairs at the back of my neck stood up. The others didn’t seem to be bothered, though.
Soon enough, two gargoyles were flapping towards us, looking even more menacing up close. They had flat snouts and apelike faces, with extremely muscular bodies and powerful wings. They were carrying what looked like a huge chest between them. The crowd became restless now, people were fidgeting next to me. Steve, who was also close by, was absent-mindedly rubbing his fingers against his lips.
The gargoyles landed on the ground with pinpoint precision, gently setting down the chest. Then, without any hesitation, they took off once more, no doubt heading for the castle again.
The chest was made of dark wood, ebony perhaps, with a golden lock and ornamentation. Doctor Wiley took out a small golden key from his pocket and slid a podgy hand over the lid. Evidently, he was enjoying every minute of this ritual. He let the tension rise a little longer and, with a swift and flourishing movement, opened the chest.
“There’s enough for everyone. One after the other, mind,” Doctor Wiley addressed the crowd.
Mr. Vox, his assistant, pointed at the person who would go first, a burly guy with a beard. He stepped forward, shaking Doctor Wiley’s hand and received a phial in return. He made no pretences, immediately fumbling the top off and drinking it in one go. His body relaxed visibly, like a drug addict getting his long overdo shot. He placed the phial back in the chest and returned to where he had been standing.
“Is there any specific order?” I asked Anastasia.
“It’s based on training performance. Jayden made it to first place last week, so he drinks first. Like I’d be so lucky!”
Finally, after everyone else had received their phial, it was my turn to be beckoned forward by the assistant. Doctor Wiley eyed me with interest as I approached.
“Hello, hello, I haven’t seen you yet. What’s your name?” he asked.
“Rebecca Flynn, sir.”
“Ah, of course,” he said, shaking my hand. “Flynn… The girl with the Scarlet Curse, eh?”
“That’s me apparently,” I said, grinning.
“Ha! Well, you certainly showed the Slayers a thing or two, didn’t you? Reminds me of the old days in the war. You may have the curse, but you’re far behind training-wise. Don’t slack and you’ll be fine, Flynn.”
“I won’t, sir.”
“Excellent, now let’s see,” he said. ” Vox!”
His assistant, who had been lost in thought, turned around sharply.
“Doctor?” he said, his voice as blank as his expression.
“Look up Flynn for me, will you?”
Mr. Vox took out a piece of paper and scanned it.
“Last injection on Tuesday, small phial should be in order,” Mr. Vox said. He had an American accent from the South, though I couldn’t pinpoint it exactly.
Doctor Wiley pushed the larger bottles aside and handed me a small phial.
“Not to worry, Flynn, not to worry. You’ve had rather a large dosis, your body needs to adapt. But we’ll bring you up to normal soon enough.”
They both looked at me, waiting. I uncorked the phial. There was still something that held me back.
“Flynn, are you alright?” Doctor Wiley said in a concerned tone.
“Oh yes, sorry,” I murmured. I slowly put the phial to my lips and emptied it in one swig.
The potent effect of the elixir immediately permeated my body. I felt stronger, even more confident, as if a great thirst had been quenched.
There were only two people after me, presumably also new arrivals, as they looked rather nervous and uncertain. Doctor Wiley, however, had no trouble at all in swaying them, especially after they had sipped the elixir. Doctor Wiley then addressed us once more.
“Now that you’re all fed, let’s see who’ll drink first tomorrow, eh? Mr. Vox will lead on from here. Happy training, everyone.”
He indicated to Mr. Vox and, waving in operatic fashion, walked back up the hill towards the village.
Mr. Vox, in contrast to Doctor Wiley, spoke only when necessary and in carefully measured tones.
“As there are some recent arrivals present, I will reiterate purpose and aim of your training,” he said, with as blank an expression as ever. “You – the Uninitiated – will train every day, all day. Your objective is to pass the Trial, which will take place in exactly one week from now.”
***
Training involved a lot of physical activity, jumping, sprinting, climbing, throwing. At first, I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. Perhaps they were trying to bring people up to speed physically. Yet as soon as the sun set and the mountains around us were bathed in orange and red, something changed. I don’t know whether it was the fading light that played tricks on my eyes or whether I was just imagining things, but people were jumping higher and running faster. When I saw the burly man with the beard leap at least 7 feet from a standing position, I turned around to Lynn, who was recuperating from one of her sprints.
“How did he do that?” I asked.
“Who?”
“That guy over there,” I said, indicating him from afar.
“Oh, that’s Jayden, he’s been first loads of times,” she said, grinning. “Cute, isn’t he?”
“But how does he do it?”
“He’s been training really hard. It takes years to become a fully trained vampire. Fitness is top priority, especially at the beginning.”
By the time training had ended, we were all exhausted and hungry. Mr. Vox once more announced Jayden as the winner of that day’s training. He looked quite pleased with himself, flashing a surreptitious grin at Lynn, who blushed. Mr. Vox then formally ended training, and the group moved over to the fireplace, where one of the Uninitiated had started a blazing fire. Soon enough, we were all eating chicken, potatoes and marshmallows – in no particular order. We talked a lot about training methods. Everyone had their own theory on how to best tease out our Vampiric abilities.
“So what’s your theory, Beccs?” Lynn asked me.
“Well, I don’t know, but it’s probably going to be a long way before we can turn invisible,” I said.
“What do you mean?” asked Lynn.
I told them the whole story of how I had found myself in the hospital bed, the talk with Doctor Yurasov and the astonishing demonstration of his skill.
“You’ve actually met Yurasov?” asked a haughty-looking blonde girl who had been listening in to our conversation from the far end of our table.
“Yeah, but who…” I said, tailing off. It just occurred to me that I had been so occupied by disbelief that I hadn’t even asked him.
“He’s the castle’s Second Warden,” said Jayden, who had been listening with great interest to the story about Doctor Yurasov. “That’s like a Vice-President. Second in command. He also teaches history.”
“And he takes care of the library, too,” said Lynn.
“They really must be worried about the Slayers if they got him involved,” said Jayden. “They weren’t this active in years.”
“Exactly,” the blonde girl said in a superior tone, her eyes flashing towards Jayden, who was sitting next to her. “The Scarlet Curse is nothing but trouble for us vampires. She’s not even a proper vampire.”
“You say that again,” I said, standing up, my blood boiling.
Perhaps she was right, I didn’t know, but I wasn’t going to take a slur from anyone.
There was a general ruckus around the table as people hastily stepped in to prevent a confrontation. The blonde girl looked surprised but satisfied at the same time. And from that moment onward, I knew we’d be enemies.
***
Back at the hut, an hour later, I was still seething from the encounter.
“She’s nasty,” Lynn said.
“So who is she anyway?” I asked.
“Her name’s Vanessa Demaine,” Anastasia said. “She’s been here several weeks already. Causing trouble ever since.”
“How come?” I asked.
“She thinks she’s better than everyone else. She’s from one of the oldest vampire families in Europe. Someone told me that she’s even related to the Royal Family, though I don’t know whether that’s true.”
“The Royal Family?” I asked, immediately thinking of a vampire strolling around in Buckingham Palace.
“They rule most of the Vampire world, except for a few groups they call outlaws. King Rurik has ruled since his father abdicated after the war against the Slayers. Though he’s pretty old now.”
“So… vampires get old, too?” I asked.
“Yeah, only way slower. I think that’s why a lot of humans think they’re immortal. Anyway, King Rurik is pretty sick, too. People haven’t seen him for ages, at least that’s what I heard.”
“Can vampires get ill, then?”
“It’s certainly possible but vampire bodies are usually much more resistant. That’s what’s strange about the King’s illness. Apparently they haven’t found out what it is yet, either. The Queen has taken his place in the Vampiric Council.”
“So what happens if the King dies?”
“I don’t know. Nobody knows, I guess. And I’ve been pretty cut off from any news since coming here. They don’t tell the Uninitiated very much. Nothing really. All my brothers came here, though. They really loved it. Except for the Trial, that is.”
“Well, that’s encouraging,” I said drily. “Any pointers on what it might be?”
Lynn shook her head.
“They wouldn’t tell me. I must have asked them a million times, believe me. It’s a secret everyone’s really fierce about guarding. All they said was that the character testing part is really important. And that the vampires want loyalty above all else.”
***
The upcoming Trial dominated the rest of the week. Nobody seemed to know or even had any inkling of what the Trial might entail. The general consensus was that training as hard as possible couldn’t hurt. I felt much stronger and fitter now, and my leg had healed much faster than it normally would have, but so far I hadn’t noticed any other difference. I wouldn’t be turning invisible anytime soon, that much was clear.
The days raced by with alarming speed, leaving most people in a state of panic. Even Jayden, who had been selected as first for the remainder of the week, looked tired and pale, with bloodshot eyes from lack of sleep. For most other people, though, wishful thinking was all that remained. The Trial seemed an insurmountable hurdle.